With Missus having new music out now on Soundteller Records we catch up with him for the latest episode of 12 Questions.
1. How old are you, where are you living and how long have you been producing and Djing?
I’m 22 years old, I’m living in Barcelona for 17 years now, but was born in Minsk, capital of Belarus. I’ve been djing for 10 years, not so much on clubs, and I can say that producing for me had different stages, since 13 to 20 years old it was like something that I tried some days and never worked, it was something irregular, nothing serious. But this year I determinate myself to work hard, and that determination and desire to make music, that was always in my head, lead me to finish for the first time a track, so I can say I’ve began producing seriously this year.
2. Where do your musical roots lie, what are your first memories of electronic music and when did you know you wanted to pursue it seriously? Are there any particular productions or artists from the past that really made you think to yourself ‘this is what I want to do.”
It all starts thanks to my mother, when I was little she always put me in front of the MTV channel and I was looking all the video clips; she also played during my life all types of music, classic, rock, pop… I always had music in my house, but of course none of my family was a musician, we are just music lovers. But my first electronic music contact was through a spanish radioshow, there I met producers like Armin Van Buuren and Ferry Corsten, that lead me to discover A State of Trance, and that radio show changed my life, I discovered music that really touches your soul. I remember that I saw the video clip of Ferry Corsten’s track “Radio Crash”, after watching it I said to myself that I wanted to be like him, I wanted to make people dance with music. Then I discovered another amazing producer called Markus Schulz, he played dark stuff, groovie basslines and dark melodic tracks, also wanted to play like him. Through Markus I discovered Guy J, whose music totally blown my mind. As you can see my musical journey is long, and I’m very happy to have walked it, these are the important moments.
3. How difficult was learning to produce for you in the beginning? Did you take any Audio Engineering programs or production courses to help you out or are you pretty much self taught? And did anyone give any advice early on that really helped?
I think most difficulty comes from our minds, we listen productions from amazing producers and when we try to produce something for our own we just give up because it’s not the same result, which was my case. It was very difficult for me, that’s why I had those years of irregular moments. But my mind kept creating those melodies and that ideas, and my desire for putting them in reality never disappeared, that’s why I decided to really spent hours until getting something done, without comparing it with anybody. I began taking an electronic music production course this year, but that course is helping me in little things that I wouldn’t realize for myself, so I’m really thankful to them. In those courses they teach you with Ableton, but I translate those teachings into Cubase, of course I use Ableton but for some things like creating a groove with the samples, and choosing the effects to make up the production.
4. What parts of the production process do you find the most difficult and what comes easiest for you? When you do hit a creative block what helps you through it?
The most difficult part for me is working with effects and mixing, difficult because it requires time and dedication on little things of the project; the easiest part for me is the composition itself.
5. You have a new EP out this week on Deersky’s Soundteller Records; an excellent collection of progressive minded music. Tell us how you approached writing the tracks, how the relationship with Soundteller began and what’s coming later this year from you?
Calypso is my favourite one, the flow with that track was amazing, I’ve made it in four days, really fast, I think that the best tracks are the ones that you do fast and enjoy making them, I simply love the main melody pluck, it’s catchy and hypnotic, just what I wanted to do. The second track was a project that was finished since Christmas holidays, I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to it, but I just can’t get bored of it. And the last track is something special, and I’m very thankful to Deersky because thanks to his constructive opinion I could produce the final piece of the EP, because I shared him the first version and it was too simple, without deepness; what inspired me was Hans Zimmer in fact, because he says that you can create expectation on listeners with just two musical notes, like he did in Batman movie, so that night I was with the project and boom the main melody appeared, I felt like “this is it, this is the track”. My relationship with Soundteller is something surprising, I send them my track “World of Wonders” without knowing if there will be a response, and yeah, Deersky liked the track and we release it in the Winter Sample Compilation, at the same time he asked me if I had more tracks, and with time we began to prepare the EP for his label. Soon I will release one remix for Hot Cue Music and right now I’m making another EP for a South American label called Welcome Records that was interested in my music, this last labels emailed me and wanted me to release music with them, it’s like something that came to me as a gift. I never thought I would release music so soon with Soundteller, or that some labels will write me to do a remix or an EP for them, everything appears as a blessing and I’m very happy for this, I’m always open to surprises!
6. Apart from electronic music what other genres do you listen to and who are your favourite artists outside of electronic? and do these genres or artists have a direct effect on your own productions?
In my early years I used to listen a lot of rock and pop music, I also like to listen rap or hip hop. Some artists that I could name are Coldplay, Linkin Park, Michael Jackson. It’s nice to listen other genres, cause your imagination and inspiration expands.
7. What was the first and last physical (CD, Vinyl, Cassette etc) piece of music you bought?
I remember that the first CD I bought was with my parents, the “Gladiator” film soundtrack, when I listened to it I was amazed. Sincerely, right now I don’t remember the last one.
8. Tell us something about yourself that might surprise people?
I’m catholic, I believe in Christ as God and my life is surrounded by this believe, and everything I do have sense because of this believe. Everything that is happening in my life I see it through the eyes of faith, and I know that nothing is coincidence, God is always in all situations in my life.
9. What’s a normal day like for you? Do you have a job outside of electronic music? And what do you like to do when you’re not working on music?
Well right now I’m studying the music production course, but as it finish this year, I will enter to the university and study pshicology degree, I always wanted to help people specially the young ones and life guided me to this point. I also do catechesis to children and youth in the parish, talking with them about the Gospel, I’m an indoor football player. If I’m not working with music I like to be with friends, watch films and series, read something productive, play football of course and help the priest in the parish. My life is quite dynamic, I don’t like to be unproductive.
10. Which producers consistently inspire you? And where else does your inspiration come from?
Guy J, Eric Prydz and Rex Mundi are the ones that stole my heart. But I will say that my inspiration comes also from amazing musicians as Hans Zimmer, John Debney and James Howard; yeah I’m also soundtrack listener, I just love them.
11. There are countless producers out there trying to find their way and create their own unique sound, what advice do you have for them?
Well I think this question is not for me yet, because I’ve just began walking in this path and I think I didn’t discover my unique sound yet. But what I can say for the moment is that music production is about expressing yourself through the music, don’t compare your stuff with other sounds, you can’t sound like the top producers simply because you are not them, keep focus on what you feel, on what you like, and most important finish your projects, don’t procrastinate, finish the track and then analyze it, if you like it keep moving, if not then begin another project you will see that next project will sound different, cause you learned the mistakes you did in the last one. And something important, when you finish a track and you feel that that is worthy, send it to a label that is the same style as your project, if you receive a response and you get the track released that’s the first step of knowing that you are in the good way.
12. If the final DJ/live set of your career was next week what would your last track be?
Plastic Boy – Chocolate Infusion, that track is my all-time favourite.
‘Calypso’ is out now on Soundteller Records, you can purchase the release: here